


pucker up

by aurcras



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: 30kisses, Erza is oblivious, F/M, Fluff, Gray tries to be smooth, Humour, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurcras/pseuds/aurcras
Summary: kisses are the autograph of love.a drabble series based on the 30 kisses prompts.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Erza Scarlet
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. look over here

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! considering it's international kiss day, i thought it would be the perfect time to post a revamp of this drabble series. i recently found the rest of the already written drabbles, and i decided to rewrite them. everything's already been written, so updates will be daily. enjoy!
> 
> word count: ~500

He’s at his wits’ end. 

All day his attempts to get her alone or grab her attention for even a fleeting second had proven futile. Their supposed day-off, which he had meticulously planned considering that it had been far too long since they last spent proper time together, was pushed roughly aside in favour of his many great, but annoying friends. 

Because apparently, _everyone_ needed Erza’s assistance today, and tomorrow just couldn’t wait. 

One after the other, he had watched them queue up in front of her as soon as she was done helping one friend before she was dragged off to complete another task. Now normally Gray can understand this behaviour; Erza’s help was greatly advantageous, and he wasn’t going to be the ass who prevented her from helping so he let her. But after catching a whiff of some of the errands they needed help with… he was about ready to snap. 

Getting Erza to do an errand for Gramps, or asking her to read over some documents, he can understand. But asking her to seduce someone?  That’s where he draws the line.

Is it really necessary for seduction to get involved? He doesn’t know the details, but he’s sure just using one’s fists would be more than useful than some seduction strategy. And besides, there's other people in the guild more than capable for that task too, like Lucy, or Cana. So why ask Erza?

He suspects it’s due to her notorious Seduction Armour, something he’s been trying to get her to let go of for the sake of his health (that thing is _dangerous_ , in more way than one), but she hasn’t listened to him. Not yet anyway. 

That still doesn’t mean he wants her to use it. Or seduce anyone in the first place, so he has to stop it while he still can.

It’s with this thought that the ice mage strides decisively toward Titania, the woman yet to acknowledge his presence, and pauses right behind her. He’s close enough for him to be able to wrap his arms around her from behind, but reaches out slow enough so she doesn’t end up hacking him for startling her.

When she doesn’t react, he takes it as a good sign so he leans over, whispering in her ear.

“I think you should look over here for once,” his voice is low and husky, and one normally reserved for their bedroom activities. But Erza doesn’t seem to notice, instead continuing the conversation she’s having as though he’s not even there, and Gray frowns, his pride a little hurt.

So he pulls his head away from his ear, staring straight at her side profile to see if she’d do anything. Yet his gaze isn’t piercing enough to penetrate through, so it’s on to Plan C.

Plan C is named accordingly so as Gray goes straight for the kill, his lips brushing chastely against the surface of her rounded cheek. He pulls away just as quick, feeling her stiffen in his arms and he celebrates inwardly at the plan’s success.

It leaves him with a shoulder of pain later on in the evening, when Erza complains about him doing something so bold in public, where their friends are never going to let them live it down, but he doesn’t care because hey, he’d gotten her attention _and_ he managed to get her flustered all at once. That’s enough cause for victory. 


	2. news; letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: ~600

“To end the letter, you could put ‘Yours sincerely’, or ‘Kind regards’. They generally work the best with most letters,” Lucy explains to the rapt redhead beside her.

Erza absorbs this newfound information with greed, storing it in her memory bank as she eagerly waits for more. Letter-writing had always fascinated her; there was just something more sincere and sentimental when you wrote your words down, compared to clearly conveying it in speech. While she’s written a few before, they were mainly apology letters formally addressed to the Magic Council as a result of their guild’s more, reckless behaviour. And those aren’t the type of letters she wants to continue writing. 

Rather, she’s looking to write something with a more personal touch. A letter that conveys the many things she simply can’t speak up about, one that becomes a messenger for her soul, as cheesy as it sounds.

“How about more personal letters? I’ve noticed the ones addressed to your mother always end with a ‘Love Lucy’,” she notes, the blonde blushing in turn. 

Lucy’s eyes widen, her hands slapping over her tinged cheeks. “W— You’re not supposed to read those!”

The requip mage shrugs. “There were some left on your table. Happy read one aloud, but I lectured him and prevented the boys from reading the rest of them,” she notes with a tinge of pride, Lucy’s hands lowering from her face.

“Oh. Then, I guess in that case, thanks Erza,” the redhead smiles warmly at her. “But yeah, adding ‘Love’ before your name is also a common way to end personal letters.”

Erza hums, also adding that piece of information to her memory. She’ll definitely be using that, she thinks, but then a thought occurs to her and she can’t help but ask, “What about those double ‘XO’s’ you leave at the end? What do those stand for? I thought it might’ve been some code, but I’m not sure.”

Lucy almost lets out a giggle at the remark, Erza raising a brow in turn. She shakes her head, “It’s not a code, but its more like a symbol. The X stands for a kiss, and the O for a hug. When I use it in my letters, it’s a sign of affection.”

Erza raises a brow, a thought coming to her. Her lips spread into a wide smile, before she gets up from her seat, thanking Lucy for all her help. The blonde watches in surprise at her sudden movement but waves her goodbye and wishes her luck, Erza quickly shuffling to a nearby stationery store to get some supplies. 

* * *

Later that day, Gray Fullbuster receives a strange letter in his mailbox.

He’s almost half tempted to throw it out when he notices his name is scrawled neatly on the front, suspecting it to be a letter of the same tangent as the ones Juvia addresses to him, but a faint scent makes him pause. Disregarding the oddness of his actions, he lifts the envelope to his nose to take a sniff. While he may not have a Dragon Slayer’s nose, he can still detect traces of strawberry, reminding him eerily of someone with scarlet red hair. And to top it all off, the envelope is red in colour.

His brows furrow in curiosity, taking the letter inside with him. He carefully tears open the back of the envelope, deciding not to rip it apart, and out slips a piece of parchment paper. Gray opens the letter, his breath catching at its contents as he reads over the words once, twice, no a good three times before setting it down on the table. He doesn’t think he’s ever read a letter so raw, and full of emotion, especially words directed toward him, and he can’t help the faint colour that tinges his cheeks when he thinks back to its contents.

Gray picks up the letter again when he realises that he’d never got to see who it came from, but what greets him at the end makes him frown. There is no name, as there should be. Rather, aside from the word ‘Love’ are three neatly written X’s.

“ _XXX?_ Who the hell is that?”


	3. jolt!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: ~900

“Hey Gray,” Lucy starts, brown eyes inspecting the fading bruise on the centre of his forehead. It’s not very large, but it’s not quite small either and had left a prominent mark on his usually clear, fairly tan skin. She’d never noticed it before thanks to his long fringe, but after watching him run a hand through his messy locks, she'd managed to catch sight of it.

“Hmm?” comes his nonchalant reply, the male all too distracted by a mop of red hair standing behind the blonde. 

Lucy lifts a hand to point at the spot on his forehead. “How’d you get that bruise on your forehead?”

Gray goes silent for a few moments, the question flying over his head thanks to his unwavering gaze on Erza, that is until Lucy clears his throat. He jumps slightly, whirring his gaze back onto the girl, who eyes him knowingly. Gray scrunches his nose, asking her to repeat herself and when she does, his reaction comes in three parts.

First is the sharp turn of his head away from her, avoiding even looking at the blonde. Then comes the loud coughs into his hand, as though he’d just been choking on something. Lucy reaches out, concerned by how much he coughs but pauses when the sight of a bright red blush painting his cheeks catches her eyes. She raises a brow in question, having never seen the mage look so embarrassed. 

“Well?” she prods. 

“It’s a long story,” he tries to brush off, fighting the memories that had unwillingly begun to seep back into his conscious thought. 

It’d happened around a week ago when Erza had returned from a job looking particularly fatigued. She had made her way into the guildhall without so much as a word and taken over the couch after Lucy’s insistence. The couch had been a new addition to the guildhall after Mira’s insistence to add comfier furniture for the members to relax on, and it had become such a hit with the members that eventually, they’d needed to create a roster. It had been Lucy’s turn on the couch when Erza walked in, but Erza’s quietness and evident weariness had led her to guide the exhausted mage to rest on the couch. Erza had immediately fallen asleep, much to the shock of the rest of the guild, and they’d all quieted in turn, desiring not to disturb her. 

They had all feared the consequences of waking her abruptly, except for Mira who’d persistently prodded at Gray to wake her. It was reaching the later part of the night, and the mage needed to close up the hall soon, but Erza was still asleep. Only the three of them were still left, Gray admittedly not leaving due to his worry over the sleeping girl, and had easily given into the request after a few more pokes. 

He had approached the couch quietly, Erza still dead to the world as she kept her face burrowed in one of the pillows Mira had stealthily placed under her. Gray paused in his tracks as he stared at her sleeping face, once again entranced by the peacefulness she displayed. It wasn’t often that she fell asleep in front of the others, especially in public, but he supposed she must have been that tired that all thoughts but sleep escaped her. The sight of her sleeping face brought back memories of his previous thoughts on the situation; Erza was _really_ pretty, especially when her face was devoid of her usual stern lines that made her beauty look almost ethereal. 

Apparently he had been staring for too long when he heard Mira’s soft giggles sounding nearby, immediately snapping out of his trance. The tips of his ears grew hot as he bent over her sleeping figure, slowly leaning his face forward.

Mira had vehemently suggested this method of waking her, as embarrassing as it was, but looking closely at her from this angle, it was looking more and more tempting. He never thought he’d be able to even do this, but he figured that if this opportunity was only going to come once in his life, it may as well be now. So the mage closed his eyes tightly, before leaning forward to diminish the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers.

His cool lips had barely brushed against the surface of her firm ones when he was suddenly hit by a wave of inscrutable pain, pain that had sent him reeling back and falling to the floor. Gray’s head throbbed intensely, lifting up a hand to numb the pain with ice as he cursed inwardly to himself. Did Erza have armour on her forehead too?

Gray gazed up through narrow eyes at the sleeping girl, seeing her sitting upright on the couch, her back unnaturally stiff. He could just make out her eyes fluttering open, looking around blankly before she met his gaze. He winced, trying to offer her a weak smile but she responded with a brow in bewilderment, turning her attention to the other person in the room.

“Mira? What’s going on? And why is Gray on the floor?”

He could hear Mira giggle softly before answering, “You don’t need to worry about him. He’s just feeling the effects of some life-changing event.”

_It had been life-changing alright_ , he’d muttered to himself almost bittersweetly, wishing that he could’ve gone without a pounding to the head. But he would never forget it, even if he tried.

“Gray?” Lucy calls for the third time, the male pulled abruptly out of his thoughts. He blinks, focusing his attention back on Lucy before lowering his head slightly in apology. 

He points to the bruise, shrugging. “It’s nothing much. Just happened after something... life-changing.”


	4. our distance and that person

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: ~900

It’s been five days, fourteen hours, twenty-nine minutes, and six seconds (and counting) since he’d gone on that solo mission to eradicate the source of the destruction exacted upon a neighbouring merchant town, and Erza is still impatiently waiting for his return. 

She had insisted to join him but he’d flatly refused. Gray had firmly stated that his ice-make magic was the perfect counter-attack to the fire-based source described by the civilians, and she found herself unable to refute. While she'd argued that her Sea Empress Armour would also prove useful, he rejected the suggestion almost immediately. He'd been very vocal about doing the mission alone, possibly due to the potential connection made to Zeref’s demons, which had only made her desire to join him stronger. Except she’d reluctantly given in when he continuously bribed her with a whole month’s supply of strawberry cheesecake, but it was only after seeing how much it’d meant to him that she let him. 

Except it had soon become a decision she deeply regretted. 

Waiting had never been so agonising for her before. She’d never been much of a patient person in the first place, and so the entire waiting process had been synonymous with torture. She’d been extremely worried about him, even after his promises to remain in contact with her, the anxiety gripping at her nerves. Thoughts of the worst happening had consumed her to the point that she was unable to achieve a fitful eight hours of sleep the entire week, her nights overwhelmed by horrific nightmares.

Erza paces the guild for the umpteenth time that week, her posture especially rigid and her features contorted into a semi-permanent frown. She bites her lower lip, ignoring the worried stares of her friends, as she looks up to glance at the clock. Gray had told her he would be arriving in the morning, but it was almost evening and there had been no sign of him. She’d been tempted to wait for him at the train station herself, but Mira had convinced her to remain at the guild like she’d promised. This left her pacing the floors as worry encroached her senses. 

She’d been so determined to welcome the mage the moment he returned home that she’d refused to take on any job requests while he’d been gone, instead doing light errands that left most of her time spent freely at the guild. She had not expected the mission to drag out for so long, only expecting three days maximum with how close the town had been. But three turned into five, and she decided that the moment Gray returned, she would give him a memorable scolding as punishment for taking so long and making her worry. 

It’s only when the creaking sound of the hall’s front doors opening that her head whips up as fast as lightning, eyes zoning in on the entrant to the hall. Her honey brown eyes settle upon the bruised and battered, yet still standing, figure of the ice mage she’d been impatiently waiting for. Her breath hitches just as the realisation sinks in.

“Gray?” She breathes out, the same time a few mutters from the rest of the guild sounds out. Yet Erza pays no attention to everyone else as she immediately makes a beeline straight to where Gray is standing, unwilling to wait even a second longer. While she isn’t normally one for public displays affection, this is the only exception. 

* * *

Gray is sure that the wind’s been knocked out of him, for the second he’d opened the doors to the guildhall, he’d been unceremoniously pounced upon by a flash of red. He feels his life is being squeezed out of him as he only just registers the feeling of a warm body pressing against his skin and a pair of tightly wound arms around his entire torso. He peers down at the figure, seeing a face nuzzled into his chest, and relief washes over him when he comes to realisation.

Almost immediately he wraps his own arms around her back, hugging her just as tight whilst ignoring the soft coos sounding in the background. He smiles tenderly as Erza presses herself even closer to him, seeing her take in a small whiff of his scent. Gray feels her sag against him, her fists gripping at the back of his coat as he keeps her steady. He’s back, he thinks, nuzzling his nose in her hair, back in her arms where he belongs. 

“You’re finally here,” she mutters quietly against his chest, lifting her head up slightly to look straight into his eyes.

They gaze at each other for only a moment, before Erza breaks the connection to push herself up, pressing her lips against his. Their lips crash in a flurry of urgency, the need to rekindle the time lost and bridge the distance as soon as possible controlling their every movement. It’s only when wolf whistles erupt from behind that Gray realises that they’re not entirely alone, breaking away from her lips to flash her an embarrassed smile, his cheeks tinged in red.

Erza doesn’t turn around to scold everyone else, her eyes too fixated on him to notice. Instead, she pulls him closer to her again, lifting a hand up to play with his tousled raven hair. 

“You took longer than I expected,” she remarks in mock disappointment, but he can see the relief in her eyes.

He looks down at her with a tired smirk, brushing a stray hair from her face. “Sorry about that. I just wanted to play with them a little.”


	5. "hey, you know..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~1000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i accidentally switched the themes for this one with theme #6 without meaning to. i'm so sorry! and the updates are later than usual, but i hope you guys won't mind a spam anyway.

Cana is unimpressed when she gazes at him, the frustrated ice mage continuing to ruin her Happy Hour with his endless venting regarding his relationship problems. Normally the girl had no qualms about listening to his rants, oftentimes finding them a perfect source of entertainment, but Gray’s whining had gone on long enough. He was ruining her quality drinking time.

“Gray,” she tries calling for the umpteenth time, scowling when her attempt proves unsuccessful yet again.

He’s not listening; in fact, she’d wager that if she stood up from her seat and walked away this very instant, he wouldn’t even notice. But she’s not that kind of friend, even if he is close to making her snap. The poor boy had been too wrapped up in his worries about finally deciding to confess his feelings for Erza, she’d taken pity on him. He’d explained that while he was determined, he hadn’t exactly figured out how to do the confession part yet.

Normally he would ask Loke, or Mira on matters like these, but those two were currently indisposed. Gray explained that Loke was out on a date (no surprise there), and Mira was on a Strauss family trip, so it had left her as his only viable option. She had ignored the fact that she was basically a last resort, and instead had been considerably open to helping him out with his situation. After predicting this moment all those years ago, Cana would argue that it was within reason, and only right that she be a major player in this event. It had taken an incredibly long time to get to this point, and she wasn’t going to miss it, however, the more he rambled, the more she was starting to regret her decision. 

An anxious Gray was a sight to behold, but something she couldn’t handle while being sober. From what she’d gathered via his worried babbling, he had a problem with directly confronting her about it, never stating outrightly what was wrong with it (she figured it was his cowardice talking). He had also argued against attempting some grand romantic gesture, reasoning that as he knew Erza, she wouldn’t have liked it and preferred simplicity. That was where he’d gotten stuck, the card mage watching as he almost pulled out his hair in frustration trying to conjure up a ‘simple’ plan. 

“What should I even say to her? I’m not doing any of that poetry bullshit. It’s stupid and cheesy, and only someone like Lyon would think it’s necessary,” he scowls at the thought as Cana takes another sip of her beer. Lyon does have a point and the image of Gray professing his love in such a… _flamboyant_ way makes her snort. But that isn’t Gray, nowhere near close to it like some people seem to believe. He’s not the most eloquent of speakers and is rather direct with his words but when he does speak, it comes straight from the heart and with a sincerity that is hard to replicate. 

She makes this point to him, but he shoots down the suggestion almost immediately. “Does ‘Erza, I like you. I’ve liked you ever since I was a snot-nosed brat who you kept beating the shit out of as a kid’ sound remotely romantic and sincere to you?” 

Cana shrugs, “I thought you didn’t want to be romantic.”

His features contort into a small scowl. “I _don’t,_ but she’ll appreciate it, won’t she?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself then?” 

She eyes the silent spectator standing behind her frustrated friend in amusement, lips curving into a smirk. Cana swirls the mug of beer in her hold, shifting her attention back to Gray, who gazes at her with a frown. 

“I can’t ask her that,” he hisses, scratching the back of his neck. 

“Why not?” A new voice interrupts, Cana hiding her smile with a sip of her beer as she watches Gray stiffen in his seat. The look on his face is priceless; the way all the colour drains from his face, leaving in its place pallor skin, and his eyes widened so much he resembled the fishes Happy took so much joy in scarfing down. She almost wishes she had a camera.

“You know, you should probably answer her, Gray,” Cana remarks when a few minutes go by without the ice mage having yet to say a word. It’s as though he’s become one of his own icy creations, frozen in place and fully immobile until her voice makes the first crack in his ice. 

His head slowly twists around to meet the curious gaze of Erza, the slight pink tinging her cheeks hinting that she’d heard most of the conversation already. She wouldn’t have been surprised, however; Gray hadn’t exactly been quiet about his grumblings. 

“E-Erza,” he finally manages to croak out, his voice barely resounding. 

The redhead cocks her head to the side in acknowledgment. “Gray.”

He swallows his saliva. “You heard all that?” He squeaks, and Cana tries her best not to snort in fear of ruining their moment. Oh, if only Mira were here right now. She won’t be too happy to hear what’d transpired in her absence. 

Erza nods slowly. “Every last word.”

“Well you see, it was a—“

What Erza does next almost makes her swallow her beer abruptly in shock, watching as she closes the gap between her and the bumbling mess that is Gray, kissing him square on the cheek. It’s light, her lips barely brushing against the surface of his skin, but the effect is almost instantaneous as Gray flushes a bright red that rivals even Erza’s scarlet mane. 

She pulls away with an almost shy smile. “Pick me up at seven,” she tells him softly, catching Cana’s gaze, who offers her a proud smirk. 

“And Gray?”

Gray jumps at the call, his lips still parted in disbelief. He looks at her as she smooths her expression into mild indifference, “I _do_ appreciate it.”

They watch as she turns on her heel to exit the guild, leaving the male sitting dumbstruck at the table. Cana can only flick her gaze between the two before smiling to herself, finishing the rest of her beer. Well, that takes care of that. 


	6. the space between dream and reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: ~600

She watches as the fireworks shoot into the sky, bursting into a plethora of colour as the sparks leave her heart hammering against her chest. The awe and amazement of watching the sky blaze brightly with technicolored explosions overcome her senses, so much so that she doesn’t hear the approaching footsteps coming from behind her.

“So there you are. I was wondering where you went, y’know. You just disappeared like that and scared me for a second there.” The low baritone voice, synonymous to melodious music, jingles in her ears as she whips around to face the man she’s in love with, a content sigh escaping her lips.

She smiles softly to herself, her heart warming at his concern. But she says nothing, opting to let the silence speak for itself as the fireworks spark in the background. 

His eyes are warm when they stare into her eyes, filled with years of unbridled affection. Gray smoothly takes her into his arms, resting his head comfortable atop of hers. “You know, this reminds me a lot of those romantic books Lucy always reads.”

She raises a brow at this, peering up at him as he squeezes her middle. “How so?”

“Well if I remember correctly, first the guy takes his lady love into his arms,” he pulls away from her for only a second, the girl disappointed at the sudden loss of contact, before he takes her in his arms again. She’s entirely confused as he tightens his hold on her waist, about to speak when he cuts her off.

“And then he leans down,” Gray slowly bends down to get closer to her lips, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest, “before he kisses her under the fireworks,” he finishes with a whisper, softly capturing her lips with his. 

She sighs into his arms, weaving her hands into his hair to softly play with the gentle strands as he pulls her closer to him. He softly tugs her lips open to slip his tongue inside, a noise slipping the girl in pleasure as she feels him slowly twirl his tongue around hers. “Gray,” she moans into his mouth, gripping at his shirt.

“Juvia,” he replies when they finally separate to regain their breaths. As she pants heavily, her cheeks flushed from their passionate kiss, he looks down at her with his tender gaze. 

“I love you, _Erza_.”

Juvia bolts upright when the name leaves his lips, panting heavily as the sweat clings to her forehead. She gasps to herself softly, clenching her fists as her mind becomes a mess of jumbled and incoherent thoughts. _Erza-san?_ she thinks, _why was Gray-sama saying Erza-san’s name?_

Her blue eyes dart around through the darkness, but she can just make out the features of her surroundings. The pale blue walls, the navy draperies, the Gray-sama plush dolls by her bedside. Right, she’s in her room.

The water mage laughs bitterly to herself. A dream, that’s all it is, she convinces herself, lifting a hand up to feel her cheeks. It’s wet, streaked with tears she’s all too familiar with, and her shoulders sag. It’s a dream, yet at the same time it _isn’t_.

The exact scene she’d dreamt of had happened, but it hadn’t taken place with her, but between him and a certain redhead instead. And she had been unfortunate enough to witness the entire intimate exchange occur right before her eyes as she’d hid behind some bushes that night. A sore mistake on her part, one that she deeply regrets. 

“Gray-sama loves Erza-san, not Juvia,” she mutters softly, her voice hoarse with pain. But she quickly wipes away the tears that seem to keep coming, shaking her head before looking up at the ceiling. 

She counts to three, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She’s already done her share of grieving. 

Juvia won’t let the sky cry again. 


	7. our own world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> words: ~600

The riverbank is their place. 

It’s where he’d first found her crying alone, and it’s where she’d first bared her heart to him. It’s the very place where the seeds of their friendship were planted, and the same place where those seeds slowly but surely, sprouted into something more.

It’s the only place where they could fully immerse themselves in the steady love they had for each other, no longer needing to hide behind those longing gazes and lingering touches in public. The riverbank is where their clandestine meetings had always been set, underneath the dimming sun with the tranquil river as their only witness. 

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” he remarks, tightening his hold around her waist. She shuffles closer into his chest, her head settled comfortably on his shoulder. Hazel eyes gaze out onto the river, the mage quietly listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart. 

Her eyes glisten in sorrow when his remark reaches her ears. “You know we can’t,” she replies in a hushed tone, unable to hide the sadness twinging her voice. 

His shoulders slump at her words, unable to refute. It’s nothing more than a fleeting dream, one that could never be caught; both of them knew that from the start. That didn’t mean it hurt any less, the passages of time unable to erase the pain that accompanied the truth. 

“Doesn’t mean we can’t wish for it.”

She nods against his shoulder. “I guess you’re right.”

They welcome the silence that washes upon them, taking their time to appreciate the glowing beauty of the sunset, the backdrop of one of their rare times alone together. After getting caught up in trying to maintain the web of carefully constructed lies, it’d been getting harder and harder for their meetings to continue. Maybe one day the truth would come out, and things didn’t have to stay this way, but for now, it’s all they can cling on to. 

“Gray-sama!” A worried call from afar resounds, signalling the end of their already brief meeting. 

Their frowns are simultaneous, Erza being the first to pull away, albeit reluctantly. She meets his eyes in a long sorrowful gaze, one communicating their mutual guilt as the constraints of reality finally catch up to them. 

“Time’s up,” she mutters softly, trying to mask the pain behind a solemn facade. It’s for the best, she’ll tell herself hours later, when she’s left alone in the confines of her room. 

“Just know that I love you,” he replies, reaching out to place a hand on her cheek. She leans into his touch briefly as he rubs soft circles in an attempt to soothe her. It doesn’t, but she appreciates the attempt.

“Gray-sama!” They hear the call again, and they can no longer keep her waiting.

Gray stands up, but not without pulling her up in the process. He tugs her a little forward, letting her rest against his chest for a few moments. She tries to pull away from him quickly, but he stills her with a brush of his cool lips against her forehead, applying extra pressure. Erza’s eyes flutter closed, biting her lip as she relishes in the tingly feeling his lips always bring about.

He pulls away after a few seconds, relaying a silent message of apology with his eyes. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she replies as he finally walks away, a ghost of a smile on her lips. At the sight of his figure being enveloped in a pair of arms that did not belong to her, she turns away, whispering quietly to herself, “And I love you too.” 

She misses him leaning down to kiss her, her heart throbbing just knowing that he’s no longer with her. He can’t be, and neither can she, not when the sight of messy blue hair and a red facial tattoo greet her mere seconds later.

All they have is the riverbank, the place to call their own. 


	8. superstar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~1000

“So you’re absolutely sure that this will remove my superstar resident heartthrob status?” He asks for the nth time that morning, skepticism lacing his voice. 

She rolls her eyes at the exaggeration of his status but affirms the question with a stern nod. “Yes, Gray. This will work. The only way to get girls to stop liking you is to break their hearts, and what better way than a highly publicised dating scandal?”

Gray sighs, unable to find no lie in her words. It’s true that when it comes to affairs of the heart, everything is fair game. Usually, the most foolproof deterrent is finding out that the target of your affections is happily in a relationship with someone, but sometimes it only led to more persistence. He only hopes they’ll be able to take a message because while he disliked purposely harming other people (the sight of crying girls was a weakness of his), it’d gone on long enough. He values his freedom, and clearly these girls aren’t going to give it to him any time soon, unless he resorts to more drastic measures.

It had started almost a month ago, when Sorcerer Weekly published their newest issue that had Gray on the front cover in all his shirtless glory. While his state of nakedness wasn’t new to anyone who closely interacted with him, on a much larger scale it was a very new, and apparently very welcome sight to the largely female target population of the magazine. Gray had naively accepted the offer from Jason with the thought that it’d only be a feature in a smaller article. However, when he found himself plastered on the front cover for all to see, it was only then he realised what exactly he'd signed himself up for.

As a result, Sorcerer Weekly’s revenue shot up and his fan club grew immensely in size, much to the annoyance of its original one member. Apparently, his issue had raked in so much profit that Sorcerer Weekly had insisted on him signing a contract with them. But he'd declined that almost immediately. He had no interest in becoming a cover boy for some magazine, yet unfortunately due to the skyrocketing popularity of his cover, Fairy Tail’s ice mage soon became Magnolia (and possibly the rest of Fiore’s) resident heartthrob. 

So now, aside from having a heap of girls trailing him daily, paparazzi watching his every move, and an endless supply of heart-shaped chocolates, he also had no freedom whatsoever. He was unable to speak to any of his female friends as his fanclub would immediately hunt them down, nor could he take any jobs as the girls complained to Gramps that he risked injury. He was getting babied by a group of girls he didn’t even know, and he didn’t have the heart to say no because he was just _that_ nice of a guy. 

Which was what led him to take drastic measures by asking Erza for help. Normally he would’ve asked Loke, Mira, or Cana for help with these kinds of things, but they only seemed to be interested in encouraging the girls’ fanatics, often offering dates in exchange for something else without his consent. It had been tolerable in the beginning, and they had all reasoned that it was time for him to finally pursue someone, but when he eventually came across a whole queue just waiting for their chance to date him, he was down to his last straw. Without anyone else to turn to, he sought the assistance of the one person he knew could be reasonable about this. 

The last thing he’d expected from her, however, was for her to create such a warped plan that he’d thought it was Mira’s plan at first. Perhaps their years of rivalry had caused Mira to rub off on Erza, and not in a good way. The suggestion of having him purposely kiss a girl in public where everyone could see him, and trigger a dating scandal in turn, was so ludicrous he would’ve turned it down immediately if Erza hadn’t made such a great point about it. 

“But who am I even supposed to kiss?” That’d been his main problem; who would even be willing enough to go along with this crazy scheme of theirs without making it awkward between them?

So when Erza had suggested herself, he’d almost gone into cardiac arrest. The idea of kissing Erza was something he hadn’t entertained since he was a child, as embarrassing as it was. He never let himself go too far with those thoughts, the potential of having himself beaten up when she’d gotten word of it squashing all hope for him (plus the fact that she was clearly interested in someone else, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth). 

She hadn’t left him much room to argue, not when she’d made so many valid points. He couldn’t kiss just anyone, not when the girls could potentially tear them into shreds, and if it were Erza, famed Queen of the Fairies and one of his closest friends, no one would dare to cross her. She’d made it seem so obvious, as though it were stupid he’d try to consider someone else. 

Left with no way to argue, he’d drawn up a number of pros in his mind to calm his nerves, which apparently only excited them even more. The fact that he was actually going to kiss _Erza_ without any risk of bodily harm was something he decided to relish in for as long as it lasted. 

“Are you ready, Gray?” Erza asks, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He almost jumps but nods with a sigh. Straightening his posture, a lazy smirk stretches across his mouth as he eyes the redhead sauntering toward him. He notices the gentle sway to her hips as she approaches him, and he swallows, forcing his nerves to calm down. _Showtime_. 

“Hey Erza,” he greets, watching as her lips slowly curve into a smile.

“Gray,” she greets back, her eyes flitting around in search of a camera or any recognisable faces of his fangirls. He sees her smirk grow wider, his gaze shifting inconspicuously to the side to see what she’d found. There, hidden behind some bushes nearby, is a camera peeking out from the shrubbery, along with a few girls who didn’t seem to even try to hide. 

Time for Phase Two.

Without warning, Erza wraps her toned arms around his chiseled torso, Gray almost shivering ironically at her touch. He responds by wrapping his own arms around her, pulling her close to him as he leans his head down just a tad. 

“They’re here,” she whispers quietly.

“Then I guess we shouldn’t keep our audience waiting,” he whispers back before he feels her abruptly pull his head down to meet hers. His eyes widen at her boldness, but he’s unable to think of anything further when her lips press against his, halting any of his thoughts altogether. 

_Soft_ , is the first thing he thinks when their lips connect, soft, and firm. It’s not what he’d expected her lips to feel like, but it brings forth a pleasant feeling down his spine. A small smile makes its way on his face as he contents himself in the warmth the requip mage brings him.

While it’s only supposed to be a friendly peck, Gray ready to push away from her, he doesn’t expect her to tighten her grip around him, nor does he expect her to start nibbling on his bottom lip. He stiffens against her in surprise, but he quickly pulls her closer against him when he realises she’s about to pull away at his lack of response. A small groan escapes his lips the longer she continues his ministrations, and before he can even think of getting any further, the sound of loud wails causes them to pull away abruptly. 

“Gray-sama!”

“No! Gray-kun!”

“Those lips were supposed to be mine!”

The two mages look at each other blankly, still rather dazed from their kiss. It’d gotten a lot more passionate than they’d initially planned, but neither of them seemed to have any complaints, except for the unruly disruption.

“Well, I guess it worked,” Erza mutters more to himself, slight irritation evident in her tone.

He glances at her, still dazed. “Yeah, I guess it did.”


End file.
